6 May 2010
Another morning passed. I was now onto reading about a boat that was shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific. Funnily enough.... we had just heard from Dominique, the yard manager, when phoning in for our morning update, that he is just about to set off to see what he can do for a yacht aground on a reef over at neighbouring Tahaa. We watched them set off with two very large sheets of fibreglass teetering precariously on the back of a rib. We were encouraged to hear that the big GF would be launched either this morning but if not, at the very least it would be this afternoon. We were definitely next on the list. Whoopee! The day wore on..... and on. At 2pm GF was launched to an awful lot of shouting. Oh dear! "It is the only way they can make themselves heard over the noise of the crane", David offered hopefully, but I never once recall our wonderful two man in Yatlift ever raising anything above a mere whisper. They could have been deaf mutes, for everything was done by sign language just like David and I try to do when anchoring or coming into a berth!! Suddenly Voyageur's crew sprang into action. Fenders were lowered over the side, the mooring lines were made ready for and aft, the mizzen boom was lowered to the after deck. We were ready. Then all well quiet. Our afternoon cuppa got made. We decided by 5pm to give up on the day.
The sun goes down just after 6pm and it was sundowner time a very important focus of our slobby cruising lifestyle. But it had been yet another day with yet another night to follow afloat. The garbage has started to pile up in the form of rotting mango skins and potato peelings. I have now become a victim of my own "green" principles and have accumulated one whole week's worth of garbage in the forward bow locker. Within the confines of the reef I could not possibly toss it seawards. By 5pm even Voyageur is beginning to get a little fed up. There is now three more day's growth on her hull. She is not happy, not happy at all. The novelty of being "stranded" at sea has finally worn off and we are desperate for land life once more. I am down to my last banana for breakfast. It has been a fun week but enough is enough. At five minutes to six GF slowly slides out from the yard slip and slips by our bow. David and I look at each other in disbelief. There was no way we were going into the vacant slip between two reefs, having had an alcoholic drink in a fading light. Maybe tomorrow.....
Susan Mackay